“Thunderbirds are Go!”

ITV Studios and New
Zealand’s Pukeko Pictures to Re-invent Classic
Thunderbirds Series

Iconic Series is Back After 50 Years
for a 2015 debut on CITV

ITV Studios is to re-invent the
Classic Thunderbirds series 50 years on from its first
television debut.

ITV Studios and New Zealand based Pukeko
Pictures, in collaboration with world-famous Weta Workshop
(Avatar, King Kong, The Lord of the Rings) are to co-produce
Thunderbirds are Go! (working title) a 26 x 30’ major new
children’s series set to debut on ITV and UK’s CITV
Channel in 2015.

This re-invention of Gerry and Sylvia
Anderson's iconic series will be produced using a unique mix
of CGI animation and live-action model sets. Showcasing
Pukeko Pictures’ and Weta Workshop’s ground-breaking
creative and technical excellence, it will deliver a whole
new level of action-adventure animation for today's
audience, whilst also affectionately paying tribute to the
legacy of model locations from the classic series.

Featuring the world's most famous family of heroes,
International Rescue, Thunderbirds are Go! will blast the
five brave Tracy brothers back on to television screens
piloting their incredible vehicles into impossible rescues
across the globe.

Thunderbirds are Go! will be executive
produced by Estelle Hughes for ITV Studios, Giles Ridge for
ITV Studios Global Entertainment (ITVS GE) and Richard
Taylor and Andrew Smith for Pukeko Pictures. The series head
writer is Rob Hoegee (Generator Rex, Teen Titans, Ben 10,
Slugterra.)

Thunderbirds are Go! is commissioned by Jamila
Metran, Head of Programming for CITV, and is currently in
pre-production.

Denise O Donoghue, Managing Director ITV
Studios UK, comments: “Thunderbirds is a highly respected
brand that continues to hold recognition around the world.
This cult series is often credited as changing the history
of animation and action-adventure, and we look forward to
taking the show to another level while retaining the
much-loved heritage that has endured over the past fifty
years.”

Jamila Metran, Head of Programming for CITV,
adds: "Thunderbirds Are Go! will be a hugely exciting new
show for the CITV audience. We're delighted to be working
with ITV Studios and the talented teams at Pukeko Pictures
and Weta Workshop, whose success and innovation is renowned
across the film and television industry. Thunderbirds is a
much-loved British institution with significant global
recognition, and our audience will relish this timely
opportunity to discover the new series fifty years
on."

Richard Taylor, co-owner of Pukeko Pictures and Weta
Workshop, says: “Thunderbirds was a hugely influential
television series in my childhood. Having watched it
originally in black and white, it was only years later that
I discovered the full and rich world that Gerry and Sylvia
Anderson, Derek Meddings, Mike Trimm and their team created.
It is thrilling therefore to think we have the opportunity
to work with ITV on this new series inspired by this most
wonderful of British shows. I personally, together with the
teams here at Pukeko Pictures and Weta Workshop, look
forward to designing and creating an inspirational world
that will engage the imagination of a whole new generation
as it did for us nearly half a century ago.”

Andrew
Smith, CEO of Pukeko Pictures, adds: “Pukeko Pictures is
focussed on high-quality value-based programming, and we are
thrilled to be associated with such an iconic brand, one
that brilliantly encompasses family values, heroism and
generosity. We are very proud to partner with ITV Studios
to create a new era of Thunderbirds.”

ITV Studios Global
Entertainment retains worldwide rights to the Thunderbirds
brand and is the global distributor for the Thunderbirds Are
Go! television series and consumer
products.

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